8. orationis: here = speech, language; all educated Romans of this period were bilingual.
quam ob rem: lit., on account of this fact; common in Cicero for wherefore, therefore.
10. illis: i.e., Cicero’s speeches; the philosophical works were almost as numerous.
aequarunt: = aequaverunt; shortened forms of the perf. tense, dropping the v and often the following vowel, were common, especially with first conj. vbs.
11. statuissem: statuere, to put, place, decide, determine.
12. ordiri: to begin, commence.
aetati: the younger Cicero was 21 at the time this treatise was written.
13. sint: with disputata, from disputare, to discuss, examine; perf. pass. vb. forms were frequently separated in this way.
15. patere: lie open, extend, and hence apply.
17. forensibus: forensis, of the forum, public, forensic.
18. contrahas: negotiate with, deal with.
19. officio: cp. the abl. with careo.
et…et (20): the conjs. imply fully coordinating phrases, i.e., et in eo colendo omnis honestas sita est et in eo neglegendo omnis turpitudo sita est; this sort of parallelism and ellipsis are quite common in Cicero.
sita:placed, situated.
honestas:honor, virtue, worth; not honesty, which is rather probitas, fides.
21. nullis…tradendis (22): ABL. OF ATTENDANT CIRCUMSTANCE; in giving no instructions = if he gives no instructions.
22. philosophum: OBJ. COMPL.
23. potissimum: adv., chiefly; Cicero was himself an Academic and did not always subscribe to Stoic doctrine.
Stoicos: many Romans found the Stoic emphasis on virtus and character very attractive.
DE OFFICIIS
The value of studying philosophy and learning both Greek and Latin.
Quamquam te, Marce fili, annum iam audientem Cratippum, idque Athenis, abundare oportet praeceptis institutisque philosophiae propter summam et doctoris auctoritatem et urbis, quorum alter te scientia augere potest, altera exemplis, tamen, 5 ut ipse ad meam utilitatem semper cum Graecis Latina coniunxi—neque id in philosophia solum sed etiam in dicendi exercitatione feci—idem tibi censeo faciendum ut par sis in utriusque orationis facultate. Quam ob rem magnopere te hortor, mi Cicero, ut non solum orationes meas sed hos etiam de 10 philosophia libros, qui iam illis fere se aequarunt, studiose legas. (I. 1–3, excerpts)
The importance of moral duties is paramount, as the Stoics have shown.
Sed cum statuissem scribere ad te aliquid hoc tempore (multa posthac), ab eo ordiri maxime volui quod et aetati tuae esset aptissimum et auctoritati meae. Nam cum multa sint in philosophia et gravia et utilia accurate copioseque a philosophis 15 disputata, latissime patere videntur ea quae de officiis tradita ab illis et praecepta sunt. Nulla enim vitae pars—neque publicis neque privatis neque forensibus neque domesticis in rebus, neque si tecum agas quid neque si cum altero contrahas—vacare officio potest; in eoque et colendo sita vitae est honestas omnis 20 et neglegendo turpitudo. Atque haec quidem quaestio communis est omnium philosophorum; quis est enim qui, nullis officii praeceptis tradendis, philosophum se audeat dicere? Sequemur hoc quidem tempore et hac in quaestione potissimum Stoicos. (I.4–6, excerpts)
25. Panaetio: Panaetius of Rhodes was one of the foremost proponents of Stoicism in the second century B.C., and his works were an important source for the arguments Cicero employs in the De Officiis.
praetermissum esse (26): praetermittere,to pass over, omit, neglect.
27. institutio: education, instruction, teaching.
29. finem bonorum: the end, goal, summit of good things = the summum bonum. This is the theory; the alterum genus provides the practical rules of conduct by which to implement the theory.
30. in omnis partes: in all directions
usus:practice, management, conduct.
conformari: conformare,to shape, mold, fashion.
32. principio: in the first place (i.e., at the beginning of our discussion).
animantium: animans,living being, creature, animal.
33. est…tributum: tribuere, to assign, ascribe, attribute, give.
34. tueatur: tueri, to look at, protect.
nocitura: the fut. act. partic. can have the meaning of likely to….
35. anquirat: anquirere, to seek, search after.
pastum: pastus,food.
36. latibula: latibulum, hiding place, shelter.
commune: commune should agree with appetitus, but the n. ending makes the adj. essentially a pred. noun, a common thing, characteristic.
